3 Ways Ant-Man Broke Science

Don't get me wrong: I loved Ant-Man! It's one of my favorite movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (I've always thought Ant-Man was a cool character). With a larger than life cast (get it?) and stellar performances all around, Ant-Man deserves all the glowing reviews that it's received. However, whenever you tackle a fictional scientific concept and try to make it come to life in a movie, there are going to be some inconsistincies. That being said, these are my three problems with the film. Also, warning, things are about to get sciencey...

1: Ant-Man must have some really strong ants

Okay, I know that mass does not directly translate to weight, as two objects of different materials can have the same mass but have different weights. However, when you take a person, and simply compact him to a smaller size, he's not going to weigh any less. In fact, the pressure that Ant-Man applies would actually increase, since P = F/A, or force/area. Since Ant-Man's mass is the same, his force would stay the same as well; when we divide this by a much smaller surface area, we get much more pressure. This is what allows Scott to punch so hard at ant size in the film. However, this principle implies that he should crush every ant he tries to sit on, and should've crushed Luis' shoulder when he stood on it. In fact, with every step Scott takes, he would sink into the floor due to the increased pressure. This plot hole is excusable though, seeing that the filmmakers may have been PRESSURED for time (no?).

2: Pym Tech Scientists should Work for the Government

[This one doesn't really break science]

So let me get this straight: Darren Cross was able to replicate Hank Pym's Pym particles in 20 years, but the U.S. government couldn't recreate the super-soldier serum in 75?! Seriously, why hasn't the government commissioned Pym Tech to make the serum already? There have been not one, not two, but at least three failed attempts (Incredible Hulk, Agents of Shield) to recreate Captain America's iconic powers. Why was Darren Cross able to create a particle that reduces the space between atoms, in two decades, yet the U.S. government can't make a serum that makes a guy strong in triple the time?

3: Ant-Man CAN'T go Subatomic

It's not physically possible. Hank Pym explicitly states that Pym Particles reduce the distance between atoms, they don't shrink the atoms themselves. So the question is, if Ant-Man is made of BILLIONS of atoms, and they all stay the same size, how can he be smaller ONE atom. This means that Janet Van Dyne's disappearance into the Quantum Realm (or Microverse, in the comics) was not physically possible, and Hank Pym's motivation for the entire film is cancelled out. I'll give this one a pass too, though, since in the Quantum Realm, dimensions and the laws of physics are not the same as in our world; maybe it is possible, but we just don't understand.

In short, this movie makes no sense. But I still love it. Ant-Man has always been one of my favorite superheroes, and no matter how many laws of physics he seemingly violates, I will always love his first MCU outing.

Are you excited to see Ant-Man in next year's Captain America: Civil War? Do you think he will become Giant-Man anytime soon? As always, leave your ANTswers (yeah, I just went there) in the comments below, and have a good one.

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